Veloso camp expects Mary Jane’s release soon after Marcos’ absolute pardon

MANILA — The legal team of Mary Jane Veloso expects her release soon after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. granted her an absolute pardon on Friday, although the necessary procedures still have to be completed.

National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL) chairperson and Veloso’s lead counsel Edre Olalia said Friday the legal team has yet to receive formal communication from Malacañang regarding the pardon but expects the process to move faster than usual.

“It’s a good afternoon. It is going to be a good day and it’s going to be the good rest of her life for Mary Jane Veloso,” Olalia said in an interview.

Marcos confirmed Friday that he had signed Veloso’s pardon the previous day.

Olalia said the legal team learned of the President’s decision while they were holding a meeting at the NUPL office.

“There was a call, rather, unidentified number. I took it in abundance of caution. It might be important. It turns out that there was a breaking news that the president admitted that he did sign the pardon, absolute pardon, yesterday,” he said.

“And then all hell broke loose. So we stopped our meeting. We were hugging each other, clapping and congratulating,” he added.

Olalia said he immediately contacted Veloso’s family and was able to speak with her parents, her two sons and her sister.

He said Veloso’s mother, Celia, was “crying with joy” and expressed her gratitude to the legal team and those who had supported her daughter’s case over the years.

The lawyer said, however, that they have not yet been able to speak directly with Veloso at the Correctional Institution for Women.

“We cannot get through until now. So I called the family and to my delight, I was able to speak to the parents, to the two young sons, and to her sister,” Olalia said.

Olalia said the family is preparing to travel to Manila following the announcement.

While he described the President’s public statement as sufficient confirmation, Olalia said a written document would still be preferable.

“It’s better if things are in writing, in black and white, so that when you go back to any questions or any references, it’s something that you can hold on to,” he said. “But I think the word of the President, a public statement, is as good as it is.”

Olalia said the pardon would still become part of the official record through the appropriate documentation.

He also expects the release process to be faster than the usual procedure for prisoners whose cases have been dismissed or who have been acquitted.

“I hope and we expect that it’s going to be anytime. But of course, the devil is in the detail, so to speak. Because this is a unique case,” he said.

Olalia said that because Marcos himself granted the absolute pardon, the legal team expects the DOJ and correctional authorities to facilitate the process.

“So it is going to be, for us, we envision it’s going to be more, if it’s faster than the usual, than what we’ve had before,” he said.

Veloso was arrested in Yogyakarta, Indonesia in 2010 after authorities found 2.6 kilograms of heroin in her luggage. She was convicted of drug trafficking and sentenced to death. She has maintained that she was unaware of the drugs and had been deceived by people who recruited her for work abroad.

After years of negotiations, Indonesia and the Philippines agreed in 2024 to transfer Veloso to Philippine custody. She arrived in the country in December 2024 and was placed at the Correctional Institution for Women in Mandaluyong City to serve the remainder of her sentence.

Before Marcos’ announcement, Malacañang had said on Sept. 23 that the President was “seriously considering” granting Veloso an absolute pardon on humanitarian grounds. The Palace had declined to give a definite timeline at the time.

For Olalia, the pardon marks a development after years of legal and diplomatic efforts to prevent Veloso’s execution and secure her freedom.

“We never know. There was a first appeal and a second appeal. They were denied and she was already on death row. We never give up. And if we did not give up then, why would we give up now?” he said.

“So we never know. It’s just a question of when. And that’s when it will be.”